a deity's blessing
by Aiko Isari
Summary: Shaymin fully intended to just catch up on her sleep. Then she makes the mistake of napping in a woman's flower bed while they moved in. Hijinks ensue and Serena's life changes course. Kalos AU.


_Warning for discussion of Pokemon euthanization._

* * *

 _Chapter One - Soft Loamy Soil_

Shaymin should have known better.

She should have known that coming to a foreign territory to plant Gracidea was a terrible, no good, very bad idea. Very few Shaymin even migrated to Kalos anyway, so she really was only doing this for her own self-satisfaction. And the adventure. A grass type could, theoretically, make it far in this region and wherever she couldn't walk, she could just hitch a ride from a friendly flying type or a water type. She had also heard from humans that Kalos was a region that was dedicated to communication.

Communication meant helping others. And helping others meant _gratitude._ That meant her flowers and the flowers of her kind would bloom as vibrant as any berry tree.

Of course, when she had decided to do this, she had started in one of the lowest points in the region, the place where it was supposed to be the quietest and relaxed and full of elderly and young people helping each other. This was a long journey, and the little grass hedgehog was tired after all that walking. She had only Gracidea seeds in her grass, barring the one flower that grew on her person. There was no easy way to bloom a Gracidea unless she did it herself. That would mean spending even more energy. Sigh.

At least, however, she had made it to this strange place humans called Vaniville. She had settled in an empty house's flower bed, burying herself in the soil and enjoying the quiet of a few people in a small place and, when she looked up, how people worked together in the little-landlocked town.

Then one day a rhyhorn bolted through the heavy wooden doors that led people inside, followed by a heavy set of trucks that belched out waste. Or was it steam? Shaymin hoped it was steam.

And it stopped right in front of her resting place.

Well… crud. Now she was stuck here.

Shaymin let out a grumble and settled back into the now loamy soil. She'd been in it long enough that she was drawing nutrients to it now. She didn't know many other reasons to go to that dead place and try to linger. She was almost wishing she had now, the smell of petrol was awful.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the pokemon that were coming out were machamp and gothitelle, with boxes and heavy weighted objects floating behind a small group of humans and their cleaning supplies. None of the pokemon even paid her much attention, but no one paid attention to her kind… or manaphy and phione for that matter. If you bred, you didn't count as a legendary, she supposed. Legendary status wasn't worth much in her opinion.

The door beside her clicked open and wave after wave of people and things went inside with multiple loud thuds, thumps, and clatters. Not even the door swinging shut for a few moments saved poor Shaymin's sensitive hearing.

This was going to be a long day.

And sure enough, she was correct. Though she was left blissfully alone, the place she had decided to rest at did not get quiet. The door kept banging open and shut, the soft whirr of psychic energy did not die down for hours, and worst of all, one of the humans started _singing._

At least the rest of their coworkers weren't fond of listening to him either.

Only when the sun was close to sinking on the horizon did the hard work come to an end. One by one the staff of the trucks exited the house, returning their pokemon. The main exception was one woman, who, now that she was squinting, was not wearing the uniform those other humans had. They instead were shrugging a grey sweater back over a black tank top, shivering in the surprising chill of the Vaniville evenings. Shaymin watched through the narrowed slit of her eyes. She was still pretending to be a leftover plant after all, as the woman pulled out another pokeball. She tossed it and released a green-headed bird. She then patted the rhyhorn -her rhyhorn?- on the head.

The rhyhorn grunted and let out a yawn, beginning to pace and sniff about. The bird, however, disappeared as quickly as it arrived. Shaymin had no idea what it was. She only knew what a rhyhorn was by name because they commonly tilled the land Shaymin often used to plant berries. Still, she shut her eyes and waited for it to come near. Its heavy stomps made the ground shake ever so slightly. He sniffed at her, then grunted and walked away.

Shaymin exhaled as quietly as possible.

All she had to do was survive the rest of this. Tomorrow morning, she would get up and leave. Yeah, that was exactly what she would do.

Hopefully, Xerneas was looking out for her and would do so.

Xerneas, far away, woke up and _laughed._

* * *

Lumiose City was bright and beautiful. It was full of people, people, and their pokemon traveling wide streets. Noise and sight blurred into colorful masses as people entered and exited the airport zone, in particular, rushing to get to the planes in time. Much like Castelia of Unova, this city almost never slept.

Serena sat in a cafe chair with her luggage, occasionally sipping her tea. She was much more interested in the berry shortcake. Even this late at night, the city buzzed with activity. People skated by, weird poodles toyed with extravagant styles, and the Prism Tower flickered like it was on and off.

She sighed. "Maybe I should have gone with mom in the truck…"

Then again the last time she had gone with her mother it had been in the van, so it wasn't the most inviting idea again, even if this likely was the last time they would be moving in the future. And this view was beautiful really. It was just… boring to sit around here.

Her eyes glanced towards one of the buildings that stood next to the museum. People in lab coats walked in and out with various boxes and pokemon at their side.

Envy stabbed her gut. If only she could have a pokemon.

Then she laughed to herself. She could barely look after Rhyhorn and he was her mother's. She couldn't have a pokemon. What would she even do with them? She didn't exactly want to be strong.

It sounded nice though, like something a coming of age young adult could do. Maybe she could try- no.

Serena dropped her arm hurriedly to run it through her long locks of honey blonde hair, noticing it rise like it could get their attention.

They were busy right now, she shouldn't interrupt them.

As she had that thought, one of the PokeBalls an assistant was carrying suddenly wiggled and burst free, the pokemon inside fully intending to scamper away. The blue frog grumbled and leaped, moving as fast as inhumanly possible.

Serena didn't think. She bolted from her luggage and right into the frog's path, grabbing it in her arms and rolling to the ground.

"Ow," she muttered, ignoring the pokemon's irritated squirming. "You stop that," she demanded of it, him, she couldn't tell. "These people are taking you inside for free food. Do you know how important food and water are? Go on, get back with them!"

The pokemon continued to squirm until the poor assistant came back over with the pokeball. He returned it with a single touch.

"Sorry!" He said with a sigh. "That one's always been really rebellious. He left his trainer again this week and we had to retrieve him."

Serena winced in pain but took the offered hand up. "Really? Is that normal?"

"For abused pokemon, sure," he replied. "Not this one though. They just don't want to work with their trainers for whatever reason." The man adjusted his glasses. "If this keeps up, he'll be put down or released, depending on who he goes after."

Serena felt a lump in her throat. "What? But he's not dangerous!" just prone to getting into trouble by the sight of things.

"Traditional starters can be quite dangerous, mademoiselle." A smooth voice said. Serena looked up, rubbing dirt off of her stinging elbows. A tall man with messy black hair and a bright smile looked at her almost like a fond uncle with the antic "They are bred for new trainers primarily to keep them alive and to be as pliable to pokemon technology as possible. That is why getting one is so important for many and why abusing them seems so foolish. One that is disloyal and not abused is one that could turn on any master for anything."

Serena struggled with this thought. Her mother said that it was similar in Rhyhorn racing. Of the Rhyhorn wasn't willing to be loyal and obedient to a good, respectful rider, then why would they want to hang onto them? "But surely killing them-"

"Wild starter breeds take extreme offense to ones bred in farms and centers." The man crumpled up his coat with a sigh as his assistant darted away. "Integration in the wild is difficult, but not impossible. However, it's not advised."

Serena's brain scrambled for a response to this, to this entirely new reality to her world that had only been glossed over so long. "Then… then how about I look for a suitable trainer?"

The man's eyebrow quirked. "I beg your pardon?"

The plan formed in her mind even as she babbled. "I want to go on a journey someday, figure out how I want to live my life! But I don't know yet, so I, I'll have to look in all sorts of places. So, when I start I can take him along and find a good trainer."

The frog croaked as if to disagree. Like there were no possible ones. Serena stubbornly ignored him.

The man & the professor? He was nothing like any other professor she had met - looked her over for a moment. Then he smiled and clapped his hands. "What a magnificent idea!"

Serena's face flushed. "Really?"

"Yes!" The man took her hand and tugged her in the direction of the lab. "You will be a talent scout! Imagine it! Pokemon who need a home, pokemon who have lost their way, guides to be better than they can be… what a creative thought." he beamed at her. "Therefore, shall we prepare you immediately?"

Serena looked down at the pokemon, who had seemingly given up for the time being, then at her bags and cake, which were sitting at the cafe still, thankfully. "Ah… sure, just uhm. My things?" She was already cursing her big mouth.

The man chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll take those. By the way, I am Professor Augustus Sycamore. And you are?"

"Serena," she stuttered out. "Serena Yvonne."

"Well, welcome, young Serena, to Kalos, and a new beginning, shall we say?" He laughed and for some reason, it made her smile too.

"Yes," she said. "Thank you!"

Somehow, this move didn't seem quite as bad as the rest.

Serena entered a room that looked like a mansion's entryway. It was slightly dirty from boots and pokemon obviously wandering around. Serena loosened her grip on the pokemon a little more and it climbed to rest on her head, letting out a croak.

"Well," Sycamore said with a flourish as he dropped her luggage. "It looks like Froakie has at least decided to tolerate you."

"Frao," croaked the blue frog again. Serena peered up at it, mentally hoping that those bubbles around its neck would keep her hat dry. She didn't want it to smell… her mother would not be happy. Or maybe she would, she hated this hat.

Her mother just had poor taste.

"However, since this is only a temporary arrangement, perhaps…" Sycamore clicked his fingers. Two assistants appeared from a left side door. Each of them held three pokeballs. With a strange unified flourish (did they all practice that?) they tossed the balls into the air and out popped six pokemon.

One was identical to the one sitting on her head, albeit it looked far more cheerful. One was a red and yellow fox, which spun about after its giant tail. One waddled on oversized claws, scratching its green helmet and sniffing at her. THe other three were almost nostalgic to look at.

"You have the Kanto starters too?!" She offered her hand to the Charmander, who shook it eagerly.

Sycamore beamed. "It's part of an interregional cohabitation experiment. Only a temporary permit, but they're quite the friendly ones, wouldn't you say?"

Serena nodded eagerly. SHe knew them, she could care for them. She almost couldn't believe she was getting a pokemon period. Two even. Even if Froakie likely wanted nothing to do with her. She made a small face at the charmander, who puffed out smoke in her laughter. Then, Serena turned to the other three. The fox looked at her, eyes big and red and inviting.

Serena couldn't help it. She melted. That was too cute! "I'll take this one!"

The fox yipped, running around her too fast to see. She quickly stumbled away, dizzy. Even the grumpy froakie let out a snort.

"Fennekin, eh?" Sycamore chuckled, passing Serena the pokeball. She fumbled with it for a moment. "They're very good for long distance attacks and movements. If you want a pokemon to set the stage, there are few better natural to Kalos."

Serena swallowed her uvula. "R-Right. Thank you, sir."

As soon as she said that, a certain xatu popped into the room. Despite not a single change of expression, he did not look impressed.

Serena blushed red to her ears. "Oops."

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** I'm not going to lie, this was influenced by that Serena fanart from the MHA artist Korei Horikoshi. No it won't be the same team, but it's still a great image. Please read and review!

Challenges: New Years Long Haul 2018, Epic Masterclass (anime) 10, mega prompts writing prompt 26.


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